The Columbus Business Development Center, the city's Enterprise Zone, was established to revitalize the area's residential neighborhoods, while creating and retaining jobs for its residents. Business and residential developments, which plan to invest in this area, are given special state and local tax incentives as well as other possible fee exemptions. 

The existing enterprise zone encompasses approximately 2,962 acres and consists of 6 census tracts as displayed in the map below. 

The following businesses and service enterprise developments may qualify for location within the Columbus Business Development Center:

Business Enterprise:

• Retail
• Manufacturing
• Warehouse and Distribution
• Processing
• Telecommunications Tourism
• Research and Development
• New Residential Construction
• Residential Rehabilitation

Service Enterprise:

• Finance
• Insurance
• Real Estate Activities listed under SIC 60-67
• Entities engaged in Day-Care

In order to be eligible for incentives, eligible businesses must:

• Increase employment by 5 or more new full-time jobs;
• Maintain the jobs for the duration of the tax exemption period;
• Whenever possible, at least 10% of the new employees filling the jobs that satisfy the job creation requirement should be low or moderate income individuals
• Provide economic stimulus with sufficient quantity and quality as shall be determined by the local government; and
• Such business or service enterprise may be new, an expansion, or reinvestment of an existing business or service enterprise, or a successor to such business or service enterprise.

To qualify for tax exemption for the housing enterprise zone, to include new residential construction, residential rehabilitation, or other rehabilitation of an existing structure, the value of the improvement must:

• Exceed the value of the land by a ratio of five to one (exceptions apply to ANY entity); and
• In no event shall the value of the property tax exceptions granted to qualifying business or service enterprises within an enterprise zone created by the City exceed 10% of the value of the property tax digest of the jurisdiction.

Capital investment or reinvestment by the project equal to or greater than the amount of ad valorem tax abated over the first five years of the tax incentive and consideration for meeting some or all of the following criteria:

• Locating in a vacant building;
• Demolishing a pre-existing or abandoned structure;
• Assembling 4 or more tracts of land for one project;
• Creating jobs above the state threshold;
• Creating jobs for residents of the Columbus Business Development Center and surrounding areas; and
• Columbus' ordinance requires that projects receiving tax exceptions must choose to incorporate either landscaping requirement option or a facade material option. The ordinance also requires the exclusion of billboards from the property for the duration of the tax exemption period.View Ordinance 98-30 for more details

Businesses/residential developments, which locate within the Enterprise Zone, may receive tax abatements for the first ten years of operation, excluding property taxes imposed by school districts. The following table describes the tax exemptions that a qualified business/residential development may receive for the first 10 years of operation.

• School taxes, sales and use taxes, and taxes imposed for G.O. debt are excluded
• Enterprise must maintain a minimum of five jobs
• Total exemptions limited to 10% of tax digest

Other incentives that may be granted will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis by the Planning Department and could include exemption from any or all of the following:

• Building Permit fees
• Sign Permit fees
• Business License Administration fees
• Rezoning fees
• Engineering fees
• Other local fees authorized by the City Council, as applicable

After completing the form(s) below, you are still required to drop the application in our office with the required supporting information.